Hey everyone! I just moved to a new place and I'm having a frustrating issue with my PC not connecting to the internet. Most of the time, it doesn't even detect my network, but when it does briefly show up, it's a no-go after I enter the password—it just says 'can't connect to this network.' Everything else in my house, like smart TVs, laptops, and phones, connect just fine. I've tried a bunch of solutions I found online, such as flushing the DNS, updating drivers, and running netsh winsock reset commands.
The only suspect I have is that my PC isn't picking up the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and it's too far to connect to the 5GHz band. I even bought a CAT 8 ethernet cable to hardwire it, but none of the ethernet ports in my room are working.
Edit: I can see my neighbors' Wi-Fi and even connect to my phone's hotspot without any issues.
Edit 2: It seems like a signal strength problem since my PC isn't detecting the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi at all. I tried changing the router settings to rename the 2.4GHz band, which my phone picked up, but my PC still won't see it. I turned off the 5GHz band preference in the driver settings, but nothing changed. Any ideas?
4 Answers
I ran into a similar issue, and what fixed it for me was completely replacing the Wi-Fi adapter. Another option is to try deleting the driver instead of simply updating it, then rebooting your PC—it should reinstall itself automatically afterward. Give that a shot!
Have you thought about moving your PC closer to the router or access point? It could definitely be a signal strength issue.
It's tough as my PC is pretty heavy, and the router is tucked away in a closet across the apartment. I'm fairly convinced it's a signal strength issue. I changed the name of the 2.4GHz band, and my phone picked it up, but not my PC. Plus, I switched off the 5GHz preference in the drivers—no luck there either.
Can you hardwire it instead? Should solve your problem if there's an ethernet option available.
I actually already bought a 25ft CAT 8 ethernet cable, but none of the wall ports in my room are working, and it’s too far to connect directly to the router.
You might want to consider getting an external USB Wi-Fi adapter. They can be pretty cheap—around $5 for a decent one, and it's super easy to use!
I’d prefer that to be a last resort since I'm not really confident with hardware.
How exactly do you replace the adapter? Just deleting it and restarting didn’t do anything for me. Also, I can see my neighbors' Wi-Fi and connect to my phone’s hotspot without a problem.